Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou remained coy over a potential swoop for Daizen Maeda - while admitting he knew the player well.
Maeda, who has hit 18 goals and provided three assists this season for the Australian's former club Yokohama F Marinos, is reportedly on the brink of an agreement.
It's an exciting prospect for Parkhead supporters with Kyogo Furuhashi has been a huge hit at Celtic since his summer J-League arrival.
However, Postecoglou was keeping his cards close to his chest when quizzed over his efforts to land the 24-year-old.
He said: "I can neither confirm or deny.
"There is no doubt the Japanese league is one I know well, I have an advantage there.
"Obviously I know Daizen well, I was the one who brought him to Yokahama F Marinos but I can definitely confirm we are not in advance talks with anyone to sign anyone at the moment.
"We will be casting the net far and wide, we are not going to just limit it to the Japanese league.
"With the way we have started the season and how some of our younger players have been playing, we have become an attractive destination for players but I am not going to rush into that."
Postecoglou is predicting a calmer January window rather than the summer scramble of recruitment as part of his Celtic Park overhaul.
He insists any new addition will have to fit into his style of play immediately and be ready for the challenge of playing in the Scottish Premiership.
The Celtic boss added: "We are looking to strengthen the squad in January and we will, we have started that process but the difference being, we are in no rush.
"Whatever business we do in January, it won't be as chaotic as it was in the last window.
"But a hugely important part of bringing players here is understanding their mentality and whether they can cope.
"I was confident with someone like Kyogo. I kind of knew him really well from Japanese football. I knew his background and I asked enough people about him as a personality, to know he would cope well.
"That is part of the process, particularly when you are talking about bringing in people in January when they are going to have to hit the ground running.
"Those are the things we will be looking into, not just their playing ability but also their personality.
"And a big part of it will be the ones who want to come here.
"When players show intent, people like Jota and Kyogo, there was never any discussion to try to convince them to come to Celtic, this was their preferred destination and this was a big part of it."
